Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jan 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Section: New York Region
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

LATEST REVIEW OF STATE TROOPERS FINDS NO EVIDENCE OF PROFILING

TRENTON (AP) -- New Jersey state troopers, once accused of racial profiling 
by their own superiors, have apparently changed their act, according to the 
latest federal review.

A court-appointed federal monitor says two years of reforms are helping to 
change a department that once routinely singled out blacks and Hispanics on 
the New Jersey Turnpike for traffic stops and car searches.

Federal supervisors also credited increased supervision of road officers, 
one of the reforms ordered by the court after the United States Justice 
Department planned a civil rights lawsuit in 1999.

"The results of these changes are tangible," the report said.

The court-appointed supervisors reviewed 175 motor vehicle stops by 
troopers over three months and found no evidence of racial profiling.

"Members of the monitoring team noted that virtually all motor vehicle 
stops were made for serious violations of the criminal or motor vehicle 
law," the report said. "Gone were the stops that bordered on the pretextual."

The state is also making progress in its court-ordered reform plan, the 
report said.

Consent searches -- a tool critics say allows the police to focus on 
minorities -- decreased 69 percent in the last six months, the review 
found. Troopers who do search people after traffic stops are finding more 
drugs, a sign that training has improved, the monitor wrote.

This is the fifth such report card. It was filed in United States District 
Court on Friday.

"The federal monitor's report clearly demonstrates the significant progress 
to date," Gov. James E. McGreevey said. "Particularly former Attorney 
General John Farmer ought to be commended for his diligence and 
professionalism toward achieving these meritorious results."
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